Search engine optimization in Japan
Over 80% of internet users start by using a search engine when they want to find a website. This means they type in keywords or a phrase to Google, MSN, Yahoo! or similar and choose websites listed from the results.
Optimizing your website for search engines (SEO) means making adjustments to the content and perhaps the design of your site to make it more friendly to search engines so that you can get a higher position in the search engine rankings (SERPS). The number one website for a keyword or phrase will get the most visitors and therefore exposure or business.
By analysing the content and structure of your website, and those of your competitors, it is possible to improve your search engine position for keywords which are relevant to your business, therefore generating more traffic.
However, SEO is not always guaranteed to work as planned as search engines are now robustly tracking down and penalising manipulation of their results which means that you have to be careful how you approach optimizing your site. Anything too drastic can result in a penalty which pushes you down the rankings!
